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HOUSE OF KNIGHTS HOSPITALLERS

14. THE PRECEPTORY OF OSSINGTON

Roger de Buron, toward the close of his life,
in the latter half of the 12th century, gave the
town of Ossington to Lenton Priory, joining the
Cluniac order and wearing their habit. But
early in his life he had bestowed the same town
on the Knights Hospitallers, who held his
charter. This not unnaturally gave rise to considerable litigation. His son, Walter Smallet, in
1204 confirmed the original grant to the Hospitallers. Eventually in 1208 the superior
claim of the Hospitallers was admitted by the
priory, with some slight modification. (fn. 1) Henry III
granted them free warren over their demesne
lands in Ossington. (fn. 2)

In a compendious chartulary of the possessions
of the order, drawn up in 1434, it is stated that
Archbishop William (probably William Fitz
Herbert, 1143-54) granted them the church of
Ossington with its appurtenances. The next
entry adds that one Henry Hosatus gave the
Nottinghamshire churches of Winkburn and
Averham to the order, and that Adam Tyson
gave the town of Winkburn. (fn. 3)

The gift of the two churches of Winkburn
and Averham must have been earlier than 1199,
for in that year they are included in a long general
confirmation to the Hospitallers, executed by
King John. (fn. 4)

Archbishop Gray confirmed to the brethren of
the Temple in England in 1230 their rights in
the churches of Marnham and Sibthorpe, with
their annual pension of 2s. from the first and of
2 marks from the other. (fn. 5)

A letter of recommendation of the Hospitallers
was issued by Archbishop Romayne in 1287 to
the Archdeacon of Nottingham, by him to be
forwarded to all the rectors, vicars, and priests of
his archdeaconry, urging that when the messengers of the order arrived after their accustomed
manner, they should be admitted, heard with
kindness, and not hindered in any way whatsoever in expounding to their parishioners the
nature of the business on which they were sent. (fn. 6)

The jury of the wapentake of Bingham stated
in 1276 that the officials of both Templars and
Hospitallers had on many past occasions and up
to the present day treated the inhabitants unjustly
and extorted money from them. Other jurors of
the county at the same time certified that the Hospitallers held the manors of Deyvilthorpe (Danethorpe), Winkburn, Ossington, and 4s. rent in
Willoughby, as well as free warren in Ossington,
Winkburn, and Danethorpe, and a park at Winkburn. The jurors of Newark testified that both
Templars and Hospitallers had made encroachments on the waters of the Trent. (fn. 7)

At the time of the cruel suppression of the
Templars in 1312 there was an unseemly
scramble for the property of the order in England.
Edward II seized some for himself, and transferred not a little to his favourites. The strong
remonstrance of the pope against this secularization of ecclesiastical property brought about an
Act of Parliament in 1324, by which the Hospitallers were put into legal possession of that
which had previously been declared to be theirs
by papal decree. (fn. 8) Some, however, still remained
in lay hands. The Templars had comparatively
small estates in Nottinghamshire, but Hugh le
Despenser managed to retain Templars' lands at
Carlton worth 20 marks a year. (fn. 9)

In 1338, when Prior Philip de Thame made
a return to the Grand Master of the English
possessions of the Hospitallers, full particulars
were entered of the Bajulia de Ossington, as well
as of the smaller estate or camera of Winkburn,
with its member of Danethorpe, (fn. 10) which throw
much light on the working of these establishments.

The total receipts and profits of the preceptory of Ossington for that year amounted to
£85 8s. 8d. The capital messuage and garden
were valued at 16s. 8d.; two dovecotes at 12s.;
600 acres of demesne land at 6d. an acre, £15;
32 acres of meadow, at 2s. an acre, and 6 acres
of pasture land, 20s.; two windmills, 40s.;
labour and customary service of villeins, 79s. 4d.;
rent in cocks and hens, 20s.; court pleas and
perquisites, 40s.; a messuage at 'Thurmeton,'
with 91 acres of land and 10 of pasture, 10
marks; common pasture at Ossington for 12
cows and 600 sheep, 2s. a cow and 1d. a sheep,
74s.; assize rents, £24; confraria, not quite
accurately known, owing to the delay of certain
donors, but averaging in recent years £22 10s.;
and the appropriation of the church of Ossington,
£8 10s.

The outgoings for the support of the household, namely a preceptor, a brother, a chaplain,
two clerks de fraria and various servants, together
with many occasional visitors and guests, included
bread and corn, £9; 80 quarters of barley for
brewing, £8; flesh, fish, and other necessaries
for the kitchen at 2s. 6d. a week, £6 10s.; oats
for the horses of the preceptor and guests, £5;
habits and clothing for the preceptor and his
confrater, 54s. 8d.; stipend of the steward, 20s.;
stipend of the parochial chaplain, 26s. 8d.;
clothing and salary of servants, 33s. 4d.; two
boys of the preceptor, one cook boy, a swineherd, a cowherd, a carter, 5s. each, and three
pages, 20d. each; repairs of the houses, 20s.; the
two days' visitation of the prior, 40s., and archidiaconal fees, 14s. The outgoings also included
four life pensions, which were a heavy charge on
the house, namely £10 a year to Henry de
Edwinstow, clerk of the king's chancery; 5 marks
to Sir John de Bolynbrock; £20 to Sir Robert de
Silkeston; and 5 marks to Brother Thomas de
Warrenne. These charges brought the total of
outgoings up to £77 7s.; this leaving a balance
of £17 13s. 8d. for the general treasury of the
English 'language.'

The two brothers then in charge of this
preceptory were Sir Nisius Waleys, the preceptor,
and Sir Thomas de Warrenne.

At the camera of Winkburn there was a
manse with garden and dovecote, valued at
16s. 8d.; arable land worth £15, and meadow
and pasture, 76s.; underwood (beyond that used
in the house), 28s.; a windmill, 20s.; assize
rents, £9 11s. 2d.; customary labour and service,
45s. 7d.; and court pleas and perquisites, 16s. 8d.
The messuage of Danethorpe, with its lands,
meadows, and pasture, was let out to farm at the
annual rent of 10 marks. The appropriated
church of Winkburn, with the chapel of Maplebeck, was of the yearly value of 25½ marks;
common pasture for twenty cows produced 40s.,
and the same for 500 sheep 41s. The total
receipts and profits of the camera realized 93
marks 8s. 5d.

The outgoings included a composition of
66s. 8d. for tithes to the rector of Kneesall; for
tithes and archidiaconal fees, 9s. 9d; the
stipends of two chaplains for the church of
Winkburn and its chapel, 60s. There was also
a payment of 10s. a year for life to Richard de
Coppegrave, (fn. 11) who is also entered as a 'corrodian,'
that is in receipt of board and lodging. The
repairs of the house cost 6s. 8d., and a like sum
was expended on wax, wine, and oil for the
church and chapel. The expenses of the house,
that is for the sustenance of the preceptor or
warden, the chaplain, and household servants,
amounted to 60s.; for bread and corn, grain for
brewing, £4; kitchen expenses, 78s.; stipends
and clothing for five servants, 33s. 4d.; robe,
mantle, &c., for the warden, 33s. 4d.; and 2s. for
the warden's page.

The sum of the expenditure came to 30 marks
8s. 5d., leaving a balance of 60 marks for the
general treasury. Brother William Hustwayt
was at that time warden.

Perhaps the most interesting item in these
accounts is the very large sum of £22 10s.
(fully £400 at the present value of money)
entered as confraria, which was collected throughout the county of Nottingham yearly by the
two clerks appointed for that purpose. The
confraria was a voluntary contribution made by
the order throughout England, which Archbishop Romayne commended to the clergy of this
county, as we have seen, in 1287. It seems to
have been collected by a house-to-house visitation. The whole amount gathered in England
in 1338 amounted to about £900; so that
Nottinghamshire, when we consider its comparatively small size, contributed an exceptionally
large share to the fund for holding the infidels in
check. The Prior of St. John's, Clerkenwell,
visited each preceptory annually at the expense
of the house visited.

The chief expense was the maintenance of
the household, and it should be remembered
that most of the provisions would be furnished
from the stock of the estate. In the hall were
three tables, the first for the preceptor, his
confrater and chaplain, and any corrodian of
good birth; the second for the full servants;
and the third for the hinds or labourers. The
rule as to hospitality was a stringent one, and
guests or wayfarers would be placed at table
according to their station. In the stricter days
of the order there were never more than two
meals a day, and the food was moderate. The
two collectors attached to each bailiwick were
enjoined never to feed sumptuously when
entertained on their travels. When dark they
were always to carry a lanthorn, and to hold it
before them when entering a house.

Maplebeck, a chapelry of Winkburn, had
originally belonged to the Templars. (fn. 12) Rents
at Sibthorpe, another Templar property, to the
value of 10 marks a year, were in 1338 somewhat strangely returned to the Lincoln bailiwick
of Temple Bruer. The transference of the
church of Sibthorpe is mentioned under the
college of that place. The rectory of Marnham
was at that date farmed, up to 1340, by Sir
Robert de Silkeston at 30 marks a year; whilst
at Flawforth there was a messuage and a
plough-land let for life to Thomas de Sibthorpe
at 7 marks a year. (fn. 13)

From the Valor of 1534 it appears that the
bailiwick of Ossington was then merged in the
larger one of Newland, Yorkshire, of which
Thomas Pemberton was preceptor. The Newland returns included £20 a year from rent and
farms in Ossington bailiwick, and also £5 2s.
from Roger Rogerson the bailiff of the same.
In addition to this rents and farms in Winkburn
came to £19, bringing the total up to £44 2s.
Bailiff Roger was in receipt of a stipend of
£2 14s. 4d. (fn. 14)

11. Richard de Coppegrave was ordained priest in
the church of Blyth by Archbishop Giffard on
20 September 1274; he must therefore at this time
have been eighty-eight years of age. York Epis.
Reg. Giffard, fol. 93.